Thursday, March 7, 2019

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A pair of 14-point performances from two juniors and a handful of made free throws in the closing seconds powered Central Washington to a 68-65 victory in the opening quarterfinal matchup of the GNAC Women’s Basketball Championships at Carver Gym.

The Wildcats made all four of their free throws in the final 15 seconds and clinched a date with top-seeded Alaska Anchorage in tomorrow's semifinal when Concordia's Keesha Sarman just missed on a halfcourt heave as time expired.

The tight loss eliminated the Cavaliers and dropped their record to 16-13 on the year. With the victory, CWU will return to the floor on Friday at 12 p.m. to face the No. 1 seed Seawolves.

Central Washington juniors Kaelie Flores and Alexis Pana paced its team, leading the way with 14 points a piece. Flores shot 6 of 9 from the field while peppering the stat sheet with four rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals. Pana saw the court more than any of her teammates, playing all but three minutes while also pulling down seven boards. 

Concordia sophomore Olivia Vezaldenos led her club with 19 points, three rebounds and three assists. As a team, the tournament's No. 5 seed shot 45.2 percent from the field. 

Tight from the opening tip, the first half featured both teams exchanging punches with neither taking a lead of more than two possessions. The Wildcats were able to stretch their advantage to six points with 80 seconds left in the half on a pair of free throws from forward JonNae Richardson, a lead that would ultimately be trimmed to 36-31 at the halftime break. 

The second half featured more of the same as neither team could fully seize control. Central Washington led by as many as seven early in the third quarter, but CU was able to answer right back with a 7-0 run on a pair of consecutive buckets from forward Nakiyah LeSure and Vezaldenos.  

A deep triple from sophomore Kassidy Malcolm put CWU on top 64-58 with three minutes to play, stretching out an advantage that ultimately would not be relinquished. Malcolm's team was able to salt the contest away at the charity stripe, securing a 68-65 win to send them into the semifinal round.